


A rare member

by DeVloer



Category: Free!
Genre: Basically, Iwatobi swimvclub, Other, Youre a mermaid, happy end, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 21:12:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18747217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeVloer/pseuds/DeVloer
Summary: First story on Archive of our Own! Sorry if I mess things up XD





	A rare member

In this world, mermaids were real.

It took a while for humans to find it out. They didn't often interact with humans. Some sort of stupid professor and his crew found a couple and took some photos of them. The whole world was shaken, they finally had real proof.

After a long discussion, they decided to let the mermaids be, to respect their environment and leave them alone. But, among humans, they were extremely looked down on. People hated them for having something they didn't. Mermaids couldn't come on land, they would be beaten to death. Many corpses had been found on shore, but no one seemed to do something about it.

You had known they exist your whole life. In fact,

You were one.

Well, not exactly. You were half one. Your father was human and your mother was a mermaid. This meant you could change the way you looked at will.

When you were a toddler you barely realized it, you changed your legs or tail constantly. Your father had to keep a blanket on your legs cause otherwise, people would see you changing.

By the time you were eight, you had it somewhat under control. You had been taught how bad it was, and that you should never show anyone. Slowly you understood more and more about how different you were to other kids, and you didn't like how you had to keep this huge secret.

At thirteen, you and your father moved to Iwatobi. You hadn't seen your mother in forever and since the ocean was so nearby, you could visit from time to time.

Then, a lot happened at once. Your father passed away after a sickness that came and took over way too fast. There was nothing you or any doctors could do, but you always felt the childish guilt, thinking there was something you could have done to prevent it.

It was a lot for a teenager, you didn't have a lot of friends at the new school and you were in grief of your father's death. Living alone was a lot of work too.

You hadn't really met your neighbors. They came by when you first moved in and they had come over with flowers when they heard of your father death. You knew their last name was Tachibana, there was a boy who seemed about your age and two adorable little twins who were about seven or eight.

It wasn't until there was a knock on your door one day and the green-eyed boy asked you for a favor.

He smiled kindly and put his hand on his neck, instantly apologizing for what he was about to ask: "I'm really sorry (y/n), I know it's late but can you do something for us?"

You felt a small pang of guilt knowing you forgot his name, but he didn't forget yours. You nodded slowly, allowing him to continue.

His cheeks wrinkled up in a quilty smile: "We have no one to watch the twins, Ran and Ren. Our parents are at work and I have to go to swim training. I know it's a lot to ask, but can you watch them for an hour or so?"

Your eyes slightly lit up at the word swim training. You had been in a swim team for a while when you were a child, but your father made you quit because he was afraid of "accidents", that was probably one of your biggest regrets since you really liked swimming with a team.

You sighed softly and thought for a couple of seconds before nodding. "Fine. I'll watch them for a while."

His smile widened and he sighed, sounding relieved. "Thank god, I don't know who else we could have asked. I would have done it but we've been really busy with finding another member. You go to the same school as us right?"

You wondered why he used "us" but didn't put much thought in it. Maybe he meant someone else on his swim team.

Although the answer was pretty obvious, since you had seen each other walking in the building, you nodded nonetheless. "Yeah, I'm a class below you."

He smiled the exact same way as before again. "Why don't we walk to school together then? I don't think I've ever seen you walk the same route as us."

You silently noted that he used "us" again. You slightly shrugged. You always swam in the ocean early in the morning. You always felt a big urge to swim while using your tail, especially if you hadn't let it out in a while. You didn't want to risk anything, so you swam when no one was awake yet. 

Before you could answer the boy looked at his watch and gasped. "Crap! I gotta get Haruka or we're gonna be late!" He looked up to you and took a few steps back. "You got everything you need? We gotta go." 

You checked your phone in your back pocket before following him. He shoved a piece of paper in your hands and jogged up to his house. "That's my phone number. Call if you need anything, alright?" 

You followed a bit slower behind him. In a swift motion, he opened the front door and shoved you inside. "I'll see you later. Take care!" 

With a soft thud, the door closed in your face. You sighed in slight irritation before whirling around and meeting with four brightly shining little eyes.

The girl with Beryl eyes jumped forward and grabbed your hand. "Are you our new babysitter?!" She asked, her voice squeaking with excitement.

You smiled slightly and nodded. "Hi, I'm (y/n). I'll be watching over you for a while." It sounded a bit too formal for a couple of kids, but you didn't know what else to say.

The children gasped of joy and pulled on your arms, dragging you to the living room.

***

Everything had been pretty chill for a while. You had learned that their older brother was named Makoto. Ran and Ren had silently been watching cartoons on the TV and you had grabbed a magazine from the shelf, reading it silently and sometimes looking over it to see if one of the two hadn't choked to death.

That was until Ren had shifted closer to you, looking up to you with big curious eyes.

"What's wrong?" You asked, putting down your magazine, not caring that you didn't remember what the page number was.

"I'm bored. Can you play a game with us?" He asked, catching Ran's attention as well, who looked just as eager as Ren.

You smiled and nodded. "Sure, what do you want to play?"

They seemed to think for a second before Ran jumped up. "Can we play Ocean?"

You raised an eyebrow. "Well, how do you play?"

"Well, you act as if you were a mermaid-" Ran was cut off by her twin brother.

"Or we'll play as if a human found a mermaid on the beach!" He said excitedly. Ran gasped and looked at you. "Yes! Can we do that? I wanna play the mermaid!"

Ren nodded. "I wanna play human! Who are you gonna be (y/n)?"

You shrugged. "I guess I'll play human too." You slightly snickered at the fact that they seemed so fascinated by mermaids, while they had no idea there was one sitting next to them.

The twins bounced with energy. Ran untied her hair and put the elastic band around her ankles, laying down sideways on the couch. Ren grabbed your hand and dragged you to the back of the couch. "Okay! Me and (y/n) are gonna come out after you start!"

Ran nodded before putting on a serious face. "Oh dear me. Being a mermaid is so lonely, I wish someone would find me so I wouldn't be so lonely anymore!"

You grinned at the toddler's acting. Ren also put on a serious face and stood up straight, pointing to Ran. "Look, comrade! My eye spots a mermaid laying on the rocks!"

You put on a serious face as well. "Well, we should go check it out, shouldn't we?"

The toddler nodded and moved closer to Ran, you followed closely behind. Ran looked up and her face lit up. "Oh, joy! My wish came true! Now I am not lonesome anymore!"

Ren's face turned to anger. "What are you doing here?! You should be in the ocean where you belong!"

You raised an eyebrow at Ren's mean behavior but figured it was probably just acting. You spoke up: "Why are you here all alone?"

Ran smiled and sat upright, ignoring Ren. "I was left behind by my mermaid friends."

Ren raised his voice and balled his fists. "Don't ignore me! Monsters like you don't belong on land!"

"Hey now." You started, feeling a bit offended. "Mermaids aren't monsters."

Ran nodded. "Mermaids are beautiful! I don't wanna be friends with you if you think I'm a monster. I wanna be friends with (y/n)!"

Ren shot up. "Big brother said they were! He says you should be afraid of them because they are really bad!"

Your breath got caught in your throat. A picture of the kind smiling Makoto went through your head. You would never guess he would hate mermaids so much. To be honest you kind of thought he would respect them at least...

"Well then I want to stay with (y/n) so I won't be alone anymore." She turned to you, smiling brightly. "Will you marry me (y/n)?"

You pushed your thoughts away and forced a smile. "Of course! I'd love to!"

Ran giggled and hugged your arm. Ren hugged your arm too. "I wanna marry (y/n)!" He yelled, looking at Ran jealously.

You giggled. "Don't fight, you two! I'll marry you both."

Their faces lit up and they cheered loudly in glee. Your grin disappeared as they continued bickering and you leaned back in the chair, thinking about all the things they had said about mermaids.

***

Both of the twins had fallen asleep. Ren had a bit of drool on the corners of his mouth while Ran was leaning on you, her head on your legs. It looked quite adorable and you couldn't help but smile.

You turned your head when you heard a door opening. Makoto walked in, a raven-haired boy following closely behind. 

"Hey (y/n)! Did everything go well? No problems?" He asked, with the kind of worry only a big brother can have.

You nodded and pointed at the two toddlers. "They fell asleep a little while ago." You said, standing up but making sure not to wake one of the two.

Makoto giggled slightly and looked at them. "Yeah, I expected that. They have been bouncing up and down the whole day." He looked at you now. "Thanks a bunch! Is there anything we can do in return?"

You shook your head. "It's fine. I'm happy to help." You looked up to the other guy, who you didn't know yet. His eyes were a striking deep blue and he had a careless expression on his face. 

Makoto jumped in. "You guys haven't met you, have you? Haru, this is (y/n), my neighbor. They go to the same school as us. (y/n), this is Haru, he lives here closeby."

His expression didn't change, he kept his monotone sneer. It was quite amusing. You smiled slightly and put out your hand for him to shake. "Nice to meet you."

He responded slower than needed, taking his time with shaking your hand. "Nice to meet you too."

It was silent for a few seconds. Looking into each other eyes you felt like your skin turned into clear glass, his stare being able to see right through you. Uncovering all of your various secrets and feelings. You did not like it, It intimidated you.

Makoto broke the silence. "Well, we'll go get the twins upstairs. Thanks again for all the help."

You ripped away from his intense eyes, noticing he kept them unashamedly at you. "It's no big deal. I'll see you guys at school." You said, walking to the front door. 

"See you later!" Makoto responded, waving at you. Haru didn't say anything. You waved back at them.

As you were walking to your house you thought about Haru. There was something mysterious about that guy, you just couldn't quite place it.

***

You couldn't sleep.

You kept thinking about the things Ren said. Of course, you had come across mermaid hate before, but it was never told like that in your face. And it kinda hurt to know Makoto thought you were a monster.

You wiggled for a bit in your bed before deciding: "Screw it. I'm gonna swim now. I can't wait till morning."

You threw on some simple work out gear and stepped out of your house. A slight shiver went through your body. It was spring already, but it was still chilly outside, especially at night.

To warm up your body you started to jog slowly. Your body was in pretty good shape. You had some pretty visible muscles but you weren't extremely buff. Most of them appeared from swimming every day.

The ocean wasn't far away but you didn't feel like waiting so you picked up your pace. Just as you were about to turn the corner you saw that there was something in the way. You didn't notice it in time and bumped right against it. Because of your speed, it was quite a force and you fell on the ground. Just as you were about to curse at whatever was in the way someone called out your name.

"(y/n)! What are you doing this late at night?" You recognized the voice instantly. You looked up at the worried emerald-green eyes looking down at you. Right next to Makoto was Haru. He seemed to be out of balance, indicating he was the thing you crashed into.

You groaned and stood up. "I could ask the same to you guys." You murmured, rubbing your lower back.

Makoto chuckled. "We're jogging, but we're almost done. I guess you're just starting?" He asked, pointing at your gear.

You shrugged, noticing you were only wearing a t-shirt and a pair of short jog pants while they were wearing thick jackets and long pants. "Aren't you cold?"

You shrugged again. "Not really." You said under your breath, growing a bit irritated.

Haru seemed to notice and turned around. "Makoto, let's go." Makoto peered at him for a second before looking at you again. "See you later (y/n)!"

You waved at him before running away again. It wasn't long before you reached the ocean. You threw off your shirt and instantly dove in. Not even waiting till you were fully emerged to change to your tail. You didn't feel the cold, you just felt the satisfaction the water brought.

***

You woke up pretty dead that morning. You had swum for a lot longer than usual and your body was protesting about it. You thought about calling in sick for school but your nerdy side decided against it.

You lazily put on some clothes and made yourself a lunch. You never ate fish since the thought of eating something that was part of you made you literally sick, so instead, you prepared some spicy chicken and rice. It would do the job.

You packed your bag and walked outside. You noticed Makoto left his house at the exact same time and you made eye contact. Makoto smiled kindly and waved. "(y/n)! Wanna come walk with us?"

You barely thought about it and just nodded. You actually wanted to walk with them. Makoto beamed excitedly. "Come with me, I gotta get Haruka first."

You nodded slowly and walked up the stairs with Makoto. You found it quite amusing how he didn't even knock, he just barged in. "Haru! It's me, are you upstairs?"

"No, I'm here." The soft dull voice was heard in the kitchen, along with the smell of something grilling. You and Makoto opened the door and walked in. Haru was wearing an apron over his swimsuit, which looked a bit ridiculous. He looked up and made eye contact with you before going back to his grill. "(y/n) is here." He stated.

You giggled. "Yeah, I am. Makoto invited me to walk with you." You took a look at what he was making and gulped when you saw it was mackerel. You bit your tongue uncomfortably, trying to not focus on the lifeless eye of the little fish seemingly staring at you.

Luckily Makoto asked something to distract you. "How come we usually never walk with you?"

You shrugged. "I go to school pretty early most the time, but today I decided to sleep in." You answered, leaning against the table.

Haru was apparently done with grilling and started packing his lunch. He didn't bother with trying to join the conversation.

After he was done the three of you walked out of the house, making your way to school. You were walking closest to shore, Haru was in the middle and Makoto was on the end. You all kept silent but it wasn't anything uncomfortable.

You were staring eagerly at the ocean, wanting to swim in it some more even though your muscles were still sore from last night. You sighed and looked forward again. In the corner of your eye, you noticed a pair of royal blue eyes staring at you. When you turned your head to meet them they looked away embarrassedly. You chuckled slightly and looked forward again.

When you arrived at school you waved them goodbye and walked to some of your friends. 

***

"You're (y/n), right?"

A bubbly voice caught your attention, making you look up. In front of you was a short blond guy with electrifying magenta eyes. You had no clue how he knew your name.

"How do you know my name?" You asked curiously.

He stood up straight. "I saw you walking with Makoto and Haru! Are you friends with them?"

You shrugged. "We're neighbors." You mumbled, not really sure if you were comfortable with the label "friend".

The blonde guy pointed to himself. "I'm friends with them too! I'm Nagisa! Do you wanna come eat lunch with us on the rooftop?"

You blinked a few times before shrugging again, standing up and swinging your backpack over your shoulder. "Sure."

He giggled and walked alongside you. "You shrug a lot, just like Haru."

You smiled sideways and made an agreeable noise.

Haruka and Makoto were already there eating their lunch.

"Makoto, Haru! Look who is in the same class as me!" Nagisa took a step sideways and pointed to you with both arms. You giggled at his silly behavior and waved silently at the duo.

"(y/n)!" Makoto said happily, while you and Nagisa sat down beside them. "It's such coincidence we keep running into each other, don't you think?"

You smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it is. I guess we just have different friendship groups, huh?" You said, grabbing the lunchbox from your bag.

You shifted your eyes from Makoto to Haru, seeing him eat the fish hastily like someone was gonna steal it from him. Of course, the others ate fish as well. but the way Haru was eating it somehow made you a bit nauseous. 

Nagisa, who had been altering his eyes from Haru to you, looked at you curiously. "What's wrong? Are you allergic to Haru?"

You chuckled sheepishly, trying to hide your embarrassment. "No, of course not." You paused for a bit, figuring out whether or not you should lie or not. You decided to just be honest. "I can't handle fish that well." You smiled, bringing up your shoulders.

Something seemed to explode inside Haru, bringing all eyes to him. "You don't like mackerel?" He asked, in an emotion, you didn't recognize. Maybe it was fury?

You shook your head. "No, I don't. It makes me a bit sick."

He took a few seconds trying to figure out an answer before looking away. "You don't know what you're missing." He mumbled.

You and Makoto snickered at his answer before Nagisa spoke up. "Say, (y/n). Do you like swimming?"

Makoto turned his head sideways. "What does that have to do with anything?" He asked, resembling a confused puppy.

Nagisa put his hand on his chin and looked up. "Well. We were talking about fish. And fish swim in the ocean. And we still need a fourth member besides Gou." He explained, looking at you again. "So, have you ever been in a swim team before?"

You nodded, pleasant memories flooding back. "Yeah, I have. About 6 years ago I used to swim competitions and relays."

All three of them, even Haru, lit up. "Really?! That's great! You should visit our club after school!"

"Ehh..." You started, being surprised by their enthusiasm. Your father made you quit the team and had forbidden you from joining any club that involved something with water. You couldn't help but feel like you were betraying him in some way. But... Well, you weren't gonna join the club, you were just gonna visit. You didn't have to feel guilty about it.

You realized you had been silent for a while and they were still waiting for an answer. You smiled at them: "Sure, I have nothing to do anyway."

Their faces lit up from joy and they cheered loudly in triumph. You couldn't help but smile at their exaggerated expression.

After school, you met up with the guys and walked to the swim club. It wasn't a far walk and you had fun just bantering with the rest of them.

Once you were by the pool Makoto showed you their training regiment. You took it from his hands and read it over. It didn't look that hard. It was about a third amount of effort then the swimming you did every day.

"It's not that much..." You mumbled and looked up. All three of them looked like you were out of your mind. Your face heated up with embarrassment. "S-sorry! I don't know anything about it. It's probably much harder than it looks!" You stuttered out.

Makoto giggled and Nagisa jumped in, crossing his arms. "Why don't you join in, then? You'll see how easy it is!" He proposed, making it seem like a challenge.

You gulped and looked away. "I-I-I don't have any swim gear."

Makoto smiled. "Don't worry. We have some spare in the backroom. They won't fit perfectly but they'll do the job." He said, pointing to the small building behind you. "What's your best stroke?"

"Uhh..." You couldn't just say mermaid stroke, so you said the first thing that you thought of. "Freestyle."

That made Haru, who had been crouching down next to the pool, look up. His eyes piercing right through you, just like before. You felt even more accessible than last time. 

"Awesome, that's the same stroke Haru swims," Makoto said, turning around to look at him, causing Haru to gaze away again.

"Enough talking! Let's get changed already!" Nagisa piped in, grabbing your hand and dragging you inside the building. You giggled and followed him.

The swimsuit was a bit too big for you, but it wasn't that bad. Once you came out you noticed Haru was already in the pool. He was swimming freestyle and his stroke was almost hypnotizing. He looked absolutely gorgeous.

You walked up closer and saw Makoto and Nagisa talking to each other. Nagisa saw you first and you could see his eyes widen. "I thought you didn't swim? You have such a swimmer body!" He yelled, pointing at your body accusingly.

You looked down at yourself. You never really acknowledged your muscles before. You never tried to get buffer or anything, they were just there. You looked up and shrugged. "I guess I am pretty strong." 

Makoto turned around as well. "Don't you want a cap or goggles?" 

"Oh, I don't need them." The sentence was out before you knew it. The two gave you a confused look. "I-I-I'd rather swim without them." You mumbled, scratching the back of your neck.

Nagisa jumped forward. "Well, show us what you got! Let's see how fast you really are!"

You smiled and nodded, walking towards one of the starting blocks. You noticed Haru had stopped swimming and was now leaning on the sideline. The three of you were looking at you expectantly.

You put your left foot forward on the block and looked at the water in front of you. Without waiting for a signal you dove in.

The moment your fingertips touched the water your whole body relaxed. It was like you had forgotten how poolwater felt. The only water you had touched for years was the salty, rough seawater. This water felt much softer and more welcoming.

It took all your willpower to not transform and just swim through the whole pool. But you couldn't. You had to keep using front crawl.

Before you knew it you reached out your hand to touch the tiled wall again. You let your legs fall beneath you and put a hand through your hair to get it out of your face. You weren't even panting.

You looked up. Makoto and Nagisa were staring at you with their mouths open, their eyes were glimmering with disbelief. They seemed at a loss of words. You looked sideways and saw Haru having almost the same expression, although he also seemed to look a bit jealous.

"Uh... Guys?" You tried. They got out of their trance.

"That was amazing! You might be as fast as Haru!" Nagisa yelled, his voice booming with excitement.

"Are you sure you haven't been swimming in a while?" Makoto brought up his hand to pull you out. You gladly took it.

"I'm not that fast." You giggled shyly, rubbing your arm. You looked down at Haru, who was climbing out of the pool on his own. His expression was neutral again, although there was an angry aura around him. Only you seemed to notice.

"You have to join the swim club!" Nagisa pressed. "You're super good and we need another member!"

You nervously took a step back, your smile disappearing. "I don't know..." You mumbled.

Makoto joined in as well. "It will be fun! We need someone like you, (y/n)!"

You were about to say something when Haru opened his mouth. "(y/n) should only join if they want to."

You didn't like his tone. It sounded like he didn't want you to join. No, like he was demanding you not to join. It started a small blaze inside you, only growing by the determination being visible in your stance. You wanted to show this emotionless boy that he wasn't the boss of you.

You growled softly and looked him in the eyes. "I'll join."

The moments those words left your left you regretted it. The words of your father making you promise not to join a swim team boomed through your head. Your eyes glimmered with pain and you quickly looked at the ground. For just a second you meant to see a glint of worry in Haru's cobalt-blue eyes but it was probably just your imagination.

Makoto and Nagisa, who had no idea of what was going on, cheered loudly. They dragged you and Haru in a group hug. You forced a laugh but inside you were not joyous at all.

They decided you should join them for the rest of the training and bring your own swimsuit the next day. You agreed with them.

You didn't swim in the ocean that day.

***

"GUYS! LOOK WHAT I FOUND!"

Gou, the manager of the swim team, came running out of the building holding a yellow stained piece of paper. 

You had been talking with Makoto and Rei, a guy from the track team who joined after a lot of begging from Nagisa. The three of you looked up. Nagisa and Haru, who were doing stretches, walked up too.

"Look! It's a paper for this training camp the club did before they closed down! Isn't it the perfect exercise to build up our stamina?" The red-haired girl exclaimed enthusiastically.

You took a closer look at it. It kinda just seemed like childish drawings. "Uh... What is it? " You asked carefully.

Gou rolled her eyes. "It's a camp where the members swim about 4 miles between each of these islands and run 1 mile on each island. They do this every day for about 5 days. Doesn't that sound like fun?"

Nagisa gasped and took the paper from her hands. "This sounds awesome! Can we please do this?" He asked, his eyes turning like those of puppy's.

You noticed Makoto kept silent. When you glanced at him he was gazing at the ground. You paid no mind to it. "Do we have the money for it?"

"We'll just do it on a budget," Gou said. "We just need permission from Miss Amakata and a couple of tents. So, are you guys in or not?"

Nagisa grabbed Rei's hand and put it in the air. "We're in!" Rei blushed and put his hand down, scolding at Nagisa.

You nodded and grinned. "I'm in too."

You looked up at Haru and Makoto. Haru seemed to wait for Makoto's answer. Once Makoto noticed everyone was staring at him he put up an innocent smile and nodded too. "Sure, I'm in. We can use my family's camping gear."

Now everyone was looking at Haru. He scanned Makoto up and down before shrugging. "It's fine by me."

Nagisa and Gou cheered loudly. You smiled at their happiness.

***

You, Nagisa, Rei, and Haru were waiting outside of Makoto's house, who was getting the tents. Gou and Miss Amakata were already in the cars.

He came out together with Ran, who apparently wanted to say goodbye properly. She jumped forward and nearly climbed on top of you. "(y/n)! (y/n) Can I come too?! Pleaaaase?"

You giggled and crouched down. "What did your older brother say?"

Her smile disappeared and she pouted. "He said I couldn't come." She mumbled softly.

"Then what do you think I'll say?" You asked, petting her head and standing up again.

She whined. "But I really, really, really wanna come!"

"Come on, Ran. I already said you can't come. You have to take care of Ren." Makoto smiled.

She looked up at him and pouted again for a few seconds. But she quickly turned happy again and grabbed your arm. "Will you tell me if you see any mermaids?" She asked enthusiastically.

You warmly smiled and nodded. You heard Gou press on the horn of the car. "Hurry up! Couch Sasabe is waiting for us!"

You and Makoto waved goodbye to Ran and the rest of the team carried the tents to the car. 

All of you were bantering and telling jokes all the way there, even on the boat. Once you arrived you packed out everything, got mad when you realized Gou and Miss Amakata were sleeping in a hotel and ate breakfast.

After breakfast the five of you gathered up on the beach. Nagisa was hopping in place and was already taking his shirt off. "Let's go already! How long are we planning to wait?"

Rei smiled at him and took off his shirt as well. Nagisa apparently took that as the sign to leave and ran in the sea, followed by a panicked Rei.

You giggled at them and looked sideways. Your smiled disappeared once you saw that Makoto was hesitating. You wanted to ask what was wrong but Haru's icy stare stopped you. Once Makoto noticed the two of you staring at him he smiled innocently. "What are you guys waiting for?" Without waiting for an answer he walked towards the sea. You and Haru followed quietly.

You had quickly caught up with Nagisa and Rei. Rei still had to use a kickboard and was noticeably slower than the rest of you, but the rest of you made sure he wasn't left behind.

Once you came across the first island and had to start running you became aware of the fact how much you hated running. You were extremely slow and were constantly out of breath. Of course, everyone was waiting for you and you constantly had to mumble your thank you's.

The five of you had just finished running the second island and dove in the ocean again. You noticed how dark the water was and an idea popped into your head. There was no way anyone would see a mermaid's tail in this water. You looked around you, Haru was left from you while Nagisa, Makoto, and Rei were on your right side. 

You grinned mischievously to yourself and dove underwater. You made sure you were deep enough before you changed your legs to a tail. As a mermaid, you could see clearly underwater and you chuckled at seeing their legs stop swimming when they realized you weren't coming up. You didn't want to spook them too much so you popped up again after a couple of seconds.

"What on earth were you doing underwater for so long?" Rei asked, waddling closer to you.

You giggled and shrugged. "I love being in the ocean!" You splashed some water around, making the others laugh a bit. You chuckled and dove underwater again, using your tail to get as far as you could. 

You were about to go up again when you realized Nagisa was also under the water, looking around for you. Normally he wouldn't have seen a thing, but he put his goggles on, so he could see a lot clearer. You panicked and quickly turned back to your legs. You resurfaced and turned around, waiting for Nagisa's reaction. Once he came up again he looked surprised, scaring you more.

"(y/n! How did you get so far?" He yelled once he saw you. Only now you noticed you were almost 25 meters away from the rest. You giggled nervously and scratched your neck. "I-I was going as fast as I can." You stuttered while the rest caught up to you. 

You didn't dare use your tail again and finished the rest of the course normally.

***

"The tents can only hold two people, so one group is going to have to squeeze."

Makoto was pointing to the tents, who were both the exact same size. "Who is going to sleep with who?" Rei asked.

You and Haru shrugged simultaneously. "I don't care as long as I can sleep."

"I wanna sleep with Haru!" Nagisa exclaimed, raising his arm in the air. 

"Why?" Rei asked, sounding slightly offended.

Nagisa shrugged. "The rest of you look like you snore." He said innocently.

"I suppose you don't?!" Rei yelled.

You had been listening to their debate and clapped your hands together. "Me, Rei and Makoto will share a tent and Nagisa and Haru share one!" You shouted like you were a genius.

They kept silent for a while before everyone nodded. "Sounds fine."

And so the three of you had to find a way so everyone was comfortable. Rei was on the left side, Makoto was in the middle and you were on the end. You noticed quickly there was no way to lay down without touching Makoto in some way, so you gave up on trying. The two of you ended up almost spooning. Your legs were touching, nearly tangling together, but your upper bodies weren't. Although if one of moved even a millimeter closer, they were.

Surprisingly, you did fall asleep somehow, because you remembered Makoto shaking you awake.

"(y/n)! Wake up." His gentle voice made you open your eyes. His face was just a couple inches away from yours, so you instinctively scooted away.

You sat up. "What is it?" You said in a sleepy, raspy voice, rubbing your eyes with the back of your hand.

Makoto pointed to the empty bed next to him, Rei's signature red glasses laying on top of the pillow. "Rei's gone."

You kept silent for a few seconds before scoffing, responding in a venomous tone. "You have to wake me for that? He probably just went to the restroom."

His face turned into one of hurt and you softened your tone. "Sorry, I'm grumpy when I'm tired." You murmured, standing up and crawling to the exit of the tent. "We'll go look for him." Makoto followed quickly behind you. 

A storm was roaring outside. The rain was splashing in your eyes, making it hard to see. The wind was so strong it lifted your hair and clothing up. You and Makoto looked around a bit. You were about to give up when you heard a muffled scream coming from the sea. You squinted your eyes and tried to see something. 

Your eyes widened when you noticed a body appearing and disappearing behind the merciless waves. You froze for a second before letting out a deafening scream.

"Rei! The idiot's gone swimming!" You yelled, your voice quivering with fright for your friend's life. You didn't waste any time and ran towards the sea, screaming Rei's name once more.

The waves were unforgiving. You and Makoto got separated within seconds and every time it seemed like you were getting closer to Rei, you got pushed away by another wave.

You balled your fists. This is useless, you thought to yourself furiously. You knew what you had to do, there was no other choice.

You looked around and saw Makoto disappearing behind a wave a couple of meters behind you. You bit your tongue and made a decision. 

You let your tail appear. You felt a familiar energy kick and forced your way through the waves. Your tail made strong, harsh movements and before you knew it you were in touch range from Rei. You grabbed his hands and made him look you in the eyes.

"Rei, look at me. Calm down. Just stay above the water okay? Don't swallow any water." 

He seemed to calm down a bit although his hands were still shaking. You started guiding him back to shore when you heard splashing behind you. You turned around expecting to see Makoto but was instead met with Nagisa's orchid eyes. 

"Nagis-" Another wave hit and you were pushed underwater. You swallowed a bunch of seawater was started coughing loudly. You felt a hard surface under your tail. You changed back and used your feet to push yourself away from it, popping up above water again.

There was no one around you. You didn't see Nagisa, Rei, Makoto or even Haru. Your heart ached with worry. Another wave his you but you managed to stay above water. A couple more waves came, but you noticed they seemed to turn smaller and smaller. You stretched your legs and noticed you could stand up in the water. But that meant...

You turned around, one of the islands was only a couple meters away from you. You sighed in relief and made your way over. 

It felt like you just lost a match to a boxer. Your whole body ached from the hard waves and you were completely tired out from using all of your energy. Plus your throat felt like sandpaper from all the seawater you swallowed. 

Before you knew it you doubled over and hurled your stomach out. Parts of your dinner but mostly water was all that came out. Your mouth and stomach tingled in disgust.

You stood up slowly and threw some sand over your throw up. You hiccuped and wiped your mouth. 

You looked around you. You were on a beach, that was pretty clear. The bay was surrounded by black rocky mountains. You shivered slightly as you noticed the cold. Your clothing was drenched and your muscles were clenching together in an effort to make your body warmer. 

You started walking to the left but couldn't find a way out without having to go in the water again, and you did not want to do that. So you walked right and found a small entrance. On the other side, there was another bay. But was a lot larger and there seemed a sort of pathway up to the mountains. Your legs were trembling as you slowly made it upwards. 

The muddy grass tickled under your feet. You looked around and still did not see any of the guys. You were seriously anxious for their health. What if they stranded on another island? Or didn't make it to an island at all?

You shook your head. All of them, except Rei, were excellent swimmers. And Nagisa was with Rei, so you didn't have to worry about him either.

You kept walking, fighting against the cold taking over your body. You had to walk for about 20 minutes before you were on the other end of the island. You looked out over the cliff. If you fell down you most likely wouldn't die, but you would still break a couple of bones. You shuddered and took a couple of steps back again.

You were seriously starting to lose hope. You've been roaming around for more than an hour now and still had not found any of the guys, or even another human being. 

Just when you were about to burst into tears, you noticed a small building hiding behind one of the hills. You smiled to yourself and hurried over. It seemed to be a watchtower, but it was no longer in use. But you didn't care, as long as you were out of this godforsaken rain.

You opened the door and walked in. It was pitch black around and you had to use your hands to feel where you were. Your clumsiness caused a lot of noise because you were literally knocking over every object you came across.

You drew in a sharp breath when you suddenly heard shuffling around you. Your clogged brain immediately thought it must be ghosts, so you reached for an umbrella and gripped it steadily in your hands.

Suddenly a bright light was shined in your eyes. You screeched in terror and swung the umbrella blindly at whatever was the cause of light.

You heard a scream closely followed by a soft thud. "(y/n)! It's us!"

You recognized that voice. You squinted your eyes and suddenly noticed Makoto, Haru, and Rei looking at you worriedly. Nagisa was on the ground, also looking up at you.

You quickly dropped the umbrella, locking eyes with Rei. You didn't hesitate with throwing your arms around him, squeezing him tightly. "Rei! You big idiot! You scared me to death!"

He seemed to freeze up before chuckling and hugging you back. "I am very sorry, (y/n). I won't ever do it again."

You pulled back but kept your arms on his shoulders. "Promise?"

He grinned and nodded. "Promise."

"Hey, love birds! We're here too!" Nagisa whined, throwing his arms in the air to make his presence more clear.

You giggled and let go of Rei, looking at the others. "I'm glad to see you guys too." You smiled.

They smiled back, except for Makoto, who was looking at you worriedly. You turned your head sideways and were about to ask him about it, but Nagisa jumped in, pushing you to the next room. "Come on! The water is boiling, you're freezing cold!"

You giggled and let yourself get dragged away. Soon after you were given a cup of steaming water and some canned pineapple. It wasn't a five-star meal, but at least it warmed you up.

You chattered with the rest of the guys. Rei got mad when he realized that you were the only one who hugged him, while the rest of the guys only got mad at him. You noticed Makoto often kept silent, and you were growing worried about him.

"Man. This reminds me of one of those bottle episodes you see on TV shows- OOH! I know something we can do to cure our boredom!" Nagisa, as usual with way too much energy, jumped up from his chair.

"We can play that game we used to play when we were children! With the cube!" He yelled enthusiastically.

You and Rei raised an eyebrow. "What game?"

"When the cube lands on your name, you have to answer the question I give you!" 

You giggled. "Sure, sounds like fun."

Nagisa grabbed a cardboard box and wrote your names on it (using Rei's name twice) and threw it around. After Rei had told an embarrassing story about his underwear and Haru told how he got boned by a waterfall, the cube landed on Makoto. 

Nagisa put his hand on his chin and thought about something to ask when Rei jumped in. "What were you afraid of?"

Both Makoto and Haru jumped up. Makoto smiled nervously. "What do you mean, Rei?"

Rei looked at the ground for a few seconds before looking up at him. "When... I was almost drowning. I could see you fainting. You were terrified of something... What was it?"

Makoto turned red and looked at the ground, so Haru spoke for him. "We don't need to talk about that."

"But-"

"I said no."

Everyone turned silent. Your eyes were locked on Makoto, he smiled innocently at Haru before he returned your stare. "It's okay Haru, I wanna talk about it."

Your breath got caught in your throat by his harsh stare. Was he mad at you or something?

"I saw..." He clenched his fist and looked at the ground again.

"...A mermaid."

You completely froze. He knows. That's why he was staring at you. You wanted to flee. To run as far away from here as possible. To run in the sea and never resurface again. To-

Nagisa gasped. "Wait really?! What did it look like?? What color was it's tail?! Tell me everything!"

Makoto didn't look up. "It was right behind (y/n). I thought it was going to murder them. I'm..." He paused, taking a deep breath and balling his fists. "...afraid of mermaids."

He said the last part extremely softly like he was afraid even saying the word mermaid was gonna make one attack him right here right now.

You were still frozen in place. Feeling relieved he didn't know what you really were, but sad that he was afraid of you. You were still too shocked to say anything. So he continued.

"There was this old man I used to really get along with. He bought me these fish on the market that I took care of. One day he, and a couple of others, went out to sea to scare off this club of mermaids who had been stealing their fish. The mermaids attacked them mercilessly. They threw everyone overboard and drowned them in the water. I wasn't sad once I learned the news. No, I was afraid. I didn't understand why the mermaids had been so cruel. No matter how well I took care of the fish he gave me, they still died. Ever since then, I've been terrified of mermaids."

Everyone went silent, taking in the information. Nagisa and Rei were looking at the ground but you and Haru were looking at Makoto. It was too silent. Someone needed to say something.

"Makoto, I-" You didn't come any further.

"You still tried to save me," Rei mumbled under his breath, his tone reflecting both compassion and perplexity.

"Why did you agree to this swim camp?" You asked, your voice soft and gentle.

He chuckled without joy and looked up. "Because I wanted to swim with you guys." He said, looking over all of you. "When I'm swimming with you, I feel like I can go anywhere."

Everyone gasped and smiled, feeling heart-warmed by his words.

It stayed quiet for a couple of seconds. No one knowing what to say. Eventually, Makoto sighed and giggled. "We can continue the game if you guys want to."

Everyone smiled and Nagisa rolled the cube. It landed on your name. "Okay (y/n)! What is your biggest secret?"

For the second time in a short period, you froze again. Only this time it lasted a little while shorter. The others must have noticed your nervousness because Makoto quickly raised his hands. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to."

You gulped and shook your head, but you kept silent. You couldn't tell them your biggest secret, not after what Makoto just said. So you went with your second biggest secret.

"I feel regret being in the swim club every single day."

"WHAAAT??"

Four faces crept up to you, grabbing your shoulders and swinging them back and forth. You quickly waved your hands innocently. "Wait! It's not what you think!"

They backed up and you sighed. "It's not that I don't want to be in the club, it's that someone else doesn't want me to." You murmured, looking at the ground.

Nagisa raised an eyebrow. "Who wouldn't want that?"

You shrugged, leaning back on your arms. "My dad."

Makoto gasped softly. Then you suddenly remember he was the only one who knew of your father's death. The others clearly didn't because Nagisa kept pushing. "Why does he not like it? I will convince him how much fun swimming is!"

Rei joined in. "We'll tell him! We'll make him watch our training!"

You smiled at their sweet reactions. "That's very kind of you guys. But you can't really do that." You said, your smile disappearing with every word.

They blinked a couple of times. Makoto's eyes were glimmering with concern. Haru, who could read Makoto like no other, could sense something was wrong and studied you with his eyebrow raised.

You shook your head and gulped. "He passed away two years ago."

They all went silent so you continued. "I can talk about it. It's not really that painful anymore. He didn't want me to join a club that involved something with water."

"Why is that?" Makoto asked tenderly.

You shrugged. "I'm not sure. I think he had a phobia of water." You lied.

"I'm sure he would be proud of how good you are at swimming," Nagisa said, trying to comfort you.

You smiled, knowing that would be the opposite of the truth. "I guess so."

You noticed the silence outside. That meant it must have stopped raining. You looked up at the window. "Hey look! The rain stopped!"

They all looked up. You stood up and walked to the door. You looked up at the sky and saw how clear it was. You could see the whole milky way.

Everyone let out fascinated noises, pointing out constellations. You kept silent and made eye contact with Haru, who had been staring at you. His face was as neutral as always but his eyes shined in a color you had never seen before. You smiled sincerely at him before looking up at the sky again.

***

You yawned loudly, waking up on the ground. You sat up and rubbed one of your eyes.

"Good morning, sunshine!" A tiny golden hair-colored boy yelled loudly in your face.

You giggled and pushed him away, yawning a second time. "What time is it?"

"No idea. But the sun is up, so it must be morning." Nagisa giggled and put out his hands to help you stand up.

You took it and lazily stood up. "You were the first one to fall asleep last night. But be silent, Haruka's still asleep." Makoto said, who was leaning on the table and pointing to the sleeping boy still in his blue-grey almost-boxers. Rei was standing beside him, stretching his back.

You and Nagisa made eye contact and shared a mischievous grin. You grabbed him by the shoulder and whispered something in his ear. He snickered and nodded.

You tiptoed towards Haru and leaned down. You softly gripped his shoulder and shook it lightly. He drowsily opened his eyes. You leaned in closer. "Haru, wake up. I have terrible news." 

He blinked a couple times, still not fully awake yet. 

"Mackerel became extinct."

His eyes flew open, panic clearly written all over his face. He grabbed your shoulders and tugged so harshly, you nearly fell on top of him. "How is that possible?! That can't be true!"

You tried to give a serious answer but Nagisa's laughter caused you to burst out laughing as well. Haru's stressed face turned monotone again once he realized the situation and he angrily pushed you away. You and Nagisa doubled over with howling giggles. Makoto and Rei were also chuckling, but not as loudly.

"That's not funny! What was that for?" He said as he stood up slowly, looking at you and Nagisa like a disappointed mom.

Nagisa wiped away a fake tear. "We had to wake you anyway! We need to find a way to get back to Gou and Miss Amakata."

You were still giggling softly and walked out of the room, the others following you. Once you were outside you looked around the forest-y area. You turned around. "Uh... Anyone have an idea how to get to the beach?"

Makoto scratched the back of his head and looked up thoughtfully. "Uhh. The four of us got here by the pathway up the mountains. How did you get here?"

You looked around and saw a couple trees you remembered. "Uhhhh..." You muttered before walking to them. "I honestly have no idea. It was dark and it took me a while to get to the watchtower."

Nagisa giggled before grabbing your hand and dragged you to one of the cliffsides. You could look over all of the three islands. The short boy pointed to the one across from this one. "How are we gonna get back?"

The rest caught up to you. Rei walked up and shrugged. "Gou will probably find out we're missing sooner or later, she'll send out a boat."

You looked over the sea. "I can swim to the other side?" You proposed.

Makoto walked up. "Or we can all swim together."

Your head, as well as Haru's, snapped to him. "Don't be dumb!"

He smiled innocently and shrugged. "I will be with you guys. I won't be afraid." He said reassuring.

It went silent for a bit until Haru spoke up. "Are you sure?"

His smile never disappeared. "Positive."

Moments later the five of you were swimming to shore together. Everyone had big smiles on their faces. No one was afraid. It felt nice and comforting.

You felt closer to your group of friends than ever before.

***

"We have a problem."

Gou came walking in. You had just finished your thousand meter swim ritual and were now stretching out some of your muscles. Rei and Haru were still in the pool.

You looked up at the manager. "What is it?"

Makoto and Nagisa came up, also curious.

Gou pointed at the piece of paper in her hands. "We have to fill in who participates in the relay. But we have two freestyle swimmers."

The four of you took a glance at Haru, who seemed to be in his own little world, as usual. You scratched your head, feeling a little guilty knowing the team was going to have to choose between the two of you.

Nagisa shrugged. "Why don't we just pick the fastest?"

Gou answered like you were invincible. "They haven't really had a race together, and they keep beating each other's time, so we don't really know who is the fastest."

Yeah, you and Haru never had a race. Neither one of you ever even brought up the idea. Which was weird considering you two were the fastest on the team.

You coughed softly, getting the other's attention. "Shouldn't we discuss this with Haru?"

They blinked a couple times before Makoto nodded and walked to the lane Haru was swimming in. Haru, who just finished, grabbed his hand and walked up to the rest of you.

Nagisa got straight to the point. "Who's gonna swim in the relay?"

Haru shrugged. "I don't care."

You rolled your eyes, knowing very well he did care. "Riiight. Well, I guess we can just have a race and see who is the fastest.." You suggested.

It fell silent again. Haru broke the silence with his monotone voice. "The day before the relay we're both in the 100-meter freestyle. Whoever wins then, swims in the relay."

You blinked and looked at him, but his face gave absolutely no emotion away. Nagisa piped up: "So we'll finally see the long-awaited race between you two?!"

You shrugged and looked away from Haru. "Sounds fine to me."

The others discussed how awesome it was gonna be, but you weren't listening. Determination filled your mind. You were not planning to lose this race.

***

The locker room was too silent. The only noises were the shuffles from changing clothes. Haru and you did not share a word, a glance or even a breath towards each other.

The 100-meter freestyle was the second race on the schedule. Nagisa had already been in the 200-meter breaststroke and sadly got second. Yet, of course, he was still warmly applauded. But you knew everyone had been waiting for this race. You felt pumped, you had been waiting for a long time to race Haru and now it was finally time.

The sharp sound of Haru shutting his locker wakened you from your thoughts. You looked sideways. Haru was looking strictly at his locker, not giving away any sort of emotion.

You couldn't help but feel a small pool of uneasiness in your stomach.

"Haru?"

He didn't respond, but you knew he could hear you.

"If you want to swim in the relay, you can just ask."

Still nothing. You smiled sheepishly, mainly to yourself. You averted your eyes back to the locker. "Either way. I'm still going to kick your ass."

You slammed your locker harder then Haru. The cloink it gave could probably be heard from outside the locker room. You put your goggles around your neck and walked past the still soundless raven-haired boy.

Your timing was perfect because the announcer called the freestyle swimmers to line up.

You didn't hesitate and quickly stood in line. It didn't take long for Haru to stand behind you. The two of you walked to your starting blocks and put on your rubber cap and goggles.

You looked sideways. Haru was looking at your through the corners of his eyes. Once the two of you made eye contact he didn't look away like he usually did. Your eyes were filled with determination, but it didn't intimidate him.

The two of you leaned forward, gripping the start block tightly. Your ears were focused on the whistle, waiting impatiently.

It came, and you dove in the water.

Instantly, you felt like you were fighting against the water. Like you had to force your way through the unforgiving stream.

Luckily your strong dolphin kick put you before Haru. Once you came up Haru was less than an inch behind you.

This sensation was not like anything you had ever felt before. You didn't hear the cheering from the podium, or even the splashing from the other contestants, who were way behind you and Haru. You could only sense the icy water embracing around you, fighting against dominance.

The turn came. You dove underwater and pushed yourself as hard from the surface as you could. Not hard enough.

Haru caught up. You and he were neck and neck.

You hit the 70-meter mark, and you were frustrated at the fact that you were not making any progress at catching up. You felt like you were losing.

You were not going to lose.

You had to win.

I have to win!

You lost sight of what was around you. The only thing you felt was ignited rage. A sudden energy burst came over your whole body. The water finally seeming to coöperate with you. You used powerfull strong strokes and passed Haru easily.

You touched the wall. You didn't even had to look at the times. You were at least a full second earlier maximum. You panted softly, gripping the edge of the tiles.

You won.

You couldn't believe it.

You wanted to roar out in ecstasy so loud the whole crowd would be able to hear. But you didn't. You didn't know why. But you kept your mouth shut.

You looked at Haru. You expected his usual neutral face to be sad, angry or maybe even in shock. But it wasn't.

He looked at you in utter horror.

You wanted to ask what was wrong. If he was okay. But you didn't.

Instead, you noticed it.

You couldn't move your legs. It was like someone glued them together. You had felt this feeling before, but didn't want to believe it. You had to see it before you could.

So you looked down at your legs. But there were no legs. Instead, you were met with your slim tail. The tail no other human has ever seen. The tail you promised to keep hidden from the world. The tail a whole stadium was now seeing, and more importantly, your friends.

You couldn't move. You couldn't even breathe. You kept looking at your tail in disbelief, wishing this was just a nightmare you were having.

And then it began. The shouting.

"It's a mermaid!"

"That thing cheated!"

"Don't let it escape!"

Soon everyone was screaming at the same time, and you couldn't make out a thing that was yelled anymore.

You barely comprehended what was happening. The primal instinct of fleeing took over your body. Your legs changed back, and you climbed out of the pool. You ran towards the nearest exit but barely made it a few steps before your wrist was grabbed.

"Where do you think you're going, you monster?"

It was like your chest broke in half. Literally and figurately, because the next thing you know a punch was thrown at your stomach.

You doubled over, your body barely being able to register the pain before someone else kicked you right in your face. The sound of your nose cracking was heard from miles away. The iron taste of blood danced over your tongue. Another slash of pain. You grabbed your head and brought your knees to your chest, trying to protect yourself.

You could faintly hear a voice telling the others to stop, that you were just a little kid. But most of the voices were shouting profanities at you. Calling you horrid names while destroying your body.

Your body was still wet from just getting out of the pool, but it didn't matter because you couldn't tell the chlorine-water from blood. When you thought the pain was over, you opened your eyes slowly and painfully.

You were seeing black spots all around. You could fuzzily make out a charcoal haired figure in purple/black swim trunks, standing there, gaping at you, not doing anything. When you thought to recognize it, someone kicked you in your head again.

It was apparently aimed at your temple because a sickening dizziness came over your body and everything went dark.

***

You felt like you were underwater.

Everything around you was dark. Various screams and begs were muffled and not being able to decipher.

You couldn't tell how time went by. It could have been a few seconds or 50 years.

You didn't want to open your eyes. Your whole body was aching and you felt like the slightest movement would make you cry out in pain.

And then suddenly. You weren't floating in darkness anymore. You could feel a soft squishy fabric underneath you. After some time you also noticed a weird piece of plastic on your wrist.

You wanted to know where you were. Your body didn't hurt as much, so you figured it would be okay.

You slowly opened your eyes.

A light.

That was the first thing you saw. It shined brightly in your eyes and almost made you close them again. But you didn't.

Instead, you looked around. There where multiple people in the room, but you couldn't really see that well.

So you tilted your head. Four people, you counted. Two of them were in the corner, seemingly nodding off. They were leaning on each other, their indigo and blond locks falling over their closed eyes.

The other two, one with wild hazel-brown hair, the other with straight black hair falling in his face, were sitting beside your bed, talking to each other.

It took a little while, but you eventually recognized them as your teammates. Makoto, Haru, Nagisa, and Rei.

"Guys?"

Four heads snapped to you. You slowly sat up, your pounding head not making it easier. "What's going on?"

It wasn't like the movies. No one pulled you in a hug. No one screamed how much they missed you. No one cried out your name. No one kissed you dramatically, revealing they had been in love with you this whole time. It just stayed silent.

You wanted to raise your wrist but was held back by a tube pricked in your arm. You looked at it. Then it hit you.

"Why am I in a hospital?" You asked, raising your head to look at them.

Nagisa, who had walked to your bed, grabbing a chair and sitting opposite of Haru and Makoto, as well as Rei, answered. "Do you remember what happened?"

His voice was gentle and careful, unlike his usual enthusiastic tone. It scared you.

You blinked a couple of times, trying to remember what happened. You remember being in a race with Haru. You clearly remember winning.

After that everything is fuzzy. Memories of fists getting thrown at you flowing through your mind. But why? Why would they-

Your eyes suddenly widened and you let out a muffled gasp. Your chest tightening in shock.

They know. Everyone knows. The whole world probably knows.

You looked at them. Nagisa was smiling sympathetically. Rei was looking at you like you were a piece of art. Makoto and Haru both shared the same exact expression: completely neutral.

You couldn't say anything, silently wishing that you were any place but here.

Makoto broke the silence. "Why didn't you tell us?"

His voice was serious. Too serious. You've never heard him sound like this. It terrified you.

You tore away from his glance and balled your fist. Your voice cracking. "I didn't know how. I've never told anyone. And before I even joined the swim team I knew how afraid you are of mermaids.

"How?"

"Ran and Ren told me when I had to babysit them." You said, before getting cut off by Haru.

"What exactly are you?"

Haru has been accidentally rude before, and it never bothered you. Makoto always made a fuss about it so he didn't do it as often. But now he was doing this full on purpose, both of you knew that. Makoto didn't correct him.

"My mother is a mermaid. My dad is human." You answered truthfully. You could tell he was doubting your honesty.

It fell silent. This gave you time to settle your thoughts. But you didn't do that. Instead, you started to panic.

You couldn't help the tears falling down. Your chest heaving with unsteady breathing. And then the rambling began.

"I'm sorry! I should have told you. I couldn't- My dad is- I'm so, so sorry."

You weren't doing a great job forming full sentences, but the message came across. Nagisa jumped up and tried to comfort you. Rei, who was sitting closest to you, rubbed your back. Makoto just stared at you with a worried expression. Haru looked at his shoes, not bothering.

A minute passed. Then another. Then another. And then you calmed down. You hiccuped softly and wiped your wet cheeks.

"We should probably get a doctor." Makoto eventually mumbled, concern still visible in his features.

Haru stood up. "I'll get one."

You needed to say something, anything. You reached out and grabbed his wrist, your body protesting against the sudden movement.

He stopped and slowly turned his head. His eyes locking with yours. His expression was emotionless. You've never wished harder you could read him easier.

You realized you had to say something, but you hadn't thought that far ahead. Desperately you tried for your mouth to coöperate. Eventually, you blurted out:

"You would have won the race."

Your voice was full of different emotions, every one of them being sincere. You didn't want to lose him. You didn't want to lose anyone. But Haru was someone who you always looked up to.

He was why you joined the swim team. He was why you always wanted to beat your score. He was why you had wanted so desperately to win from him. You needed him.

His expression changed to an emotion you didn't recognize. Your eye contact didn't last long as he pulled his wrist away and left the room.

You kept looking at the door, hoping that he would come back in, pulling you in a hug and telling you he forgives you. But he didn't. Of course, he didn't.

Makoto wakened you from your thoughts. "I'm sure he'll come around."

You looked at him. "You're not mad at me?"

He breathed in sharply and looked at the ground. "I mean... I'm not sure what I feel. But I can understand it must be hard to come out."

It took him a second to figure out what he just said. "Wait- That's not-" He waved his hands in panic, trying to explain what he meant.

You bit your lip, trying not to laugh. You were doing great until Nagisa suddenly burst out laughing, grabbing onto the hem of Rei's sleeve. "Pffft. Makoto! Only you can say something like that."

You couldn't help the giggles escaping your mouth. Makoto desperately tried to fix his mistake, only making you laugh harder. Rei joined in and soon the room was filled with loud laughter. The joke wasn't even funny, but it felt good to have something to laugh about after all this misery.

After a few minutes, the laughter died down. Your eyes were kept on Makoto, who was looking at the ground, a small smile still visible on his face.

"You are, by far, the nicest person I have ever met."

The words just came out, but you didn't regret them. He deserved to know what good of a person he was. His cheeks turned red and he scratched the back of his neck. "I'm just trying to keep people happy." He mumbled shyly.

You smiled to yourself before pulling him into a hug. He froze up for just a second before hugging you back. It didn't last long, and when you pulled back you noticed Nagisa and Rei looking sad, so you gave them a hug too.

A doctor came walking in not much later. Haru wasn't with him. He pulled out a note pad and took the chair that Haru sat in. "Good evening."

You didn't even know it was late at night.

"You're a lucky one. You broke one of your ribs and got a slight concussion, but otherwise, you're just a bit bruised up." He said, looking over the writing on the paper.

"How long do I have to stay here?" You wanted to leave this place as fast as possible.

"Tomorrow. We'll have to do a few quick tests in the morning and if you pass all of them you're good to go." He mumbled before looking you in the eyes. "It took a while to find a doctor who was willing to help you. All of my colleagues refused to attend to your wounds."

You shivered slightly. You hadn't even thought about all that. There was no way you could return to your normal life after this. You were probably more looked down on than regular mermaids, and now everyone knew your face. 

You were probably worth a fortune. 

You pushed away your thoughts and nodded for the doctor to continue.

"There is something else..." He hesitated and scratched his neck guiltily.

"What is it?"

"I need to ask a few questions about your condition, and I would need to see your tail." He chose the words carefully.

You flinched and your glance dropped to your hands. You kinda knew this question was coming, but you were denying it in your head. You had never shown your tail to anyone. Even talking about it made you uncomfortable. 

Well, better get used to it, cause it will happen a lot more.

"Ask away." You said, sounding way less confident then you hoped. You looked at the guys and they all gave the same we-wont-judge look.

"Okay then. How does your mermaid tail work?" 

"I can change from legs to tail whenever I want. When I use my tail while I'm not in any water, my body will dry out quickly and I can't survive for more then a couple minutes on land. I can hold my breath while I am a mermaid for about half an hour." You said under your breath, but loud enough for the rest to hear.

He scribbled everything down. You wanted to tear the paper apart so no one could read it and the information you just gave could be forgotten forever.

"Any other side effects or powers?

You hated the use of the word "power". "I can talk, and see clearly underwater, and my body doesn't feel any pressure when I go too deep. But only when I have my tail."

He wrote it down again. He twirled the pen around in his fingers. "Now, would you be willing to show your tail?" 

You gripped your blanket. You felt nervous about showing your tail, especially in front of your friends. You nodded reluctantly. You pushed your blankets away and showed your bare legs, the only thing you were wearing was a medical top you often see in movies.

You shifted a bit in bed before letting your tail appear.

Your tail was longer than your legs and so the fin flopped over the other side of the bed. You felt naked, wanting to try and cover yourself with your hands. It took all your willpower to not instantly switch back.

You kept your eyes strictly at your tail, not wanting to meet the other's eyes. The doctor looked at it before writing something down. "Can I touch it?"

You nodded and he let his hands gently stroke against your smooth scales. He pulled away a few seconds later. "It's exactly like a normal mermaid tail. It's like you can literally switch between these two completely different creatures with only a few side effects. That is really interesting."

You shrugged before noticed Nagisa's tense face. You wanted to ask what was wrong but he was faster. "Can I touch it too?!"

You bit your lip but eventually shrugged. "Sure."

His hands instantly danced all over your tail. He was mesmerized by each detail and pointed out everything he saw to Rei. Who, after your consent, also touched it.

Your face wanted to scrunch up in discomfort, but you forced yourself to not let show how you didn't like them touching you like you were the Mona Lisa. But somehow you were glad it was with your friends rather than strangers.

Makoto didn't touch you. You realized the situation probably confused him because he saw his biggest fear on his friend. You decided you had enough and made up a lie. "I'm drying out."

Nagisa and Rei pulled back and the doctor smiled kindly. "It's okay. I have enough information."

You quickly changed back, pulling the covers over your legs again. Your muscles relaxed again since they had been tensed up the moment the doctor walked in. He scribbled something down again and nodded to himself. "Well, I better go. Visiting hours are over in a short hour so-"

"Can we please stay here?! I don't want to leave (y/n)!" Nagisa cut him off, standing up in such a hurry the chair nearly fell over. Luckily Rei caught it in time.

The doctor raised a brow before smiling. "If you all call your parents, maybe I'll make a small exception."

Nagisa cheered loudly. The doctor snickered before putting his hand on the doorknob. You suddenly realized you needed to say something else to him.

"W-Wait!" 

He stopped and looked at you. "What's wrong?"

You fumbled with your fingers. "Thank you... For saving me."

He smiled kindly and scratched his neck. "You're welcome. I've never understood all the mermaid hate. They are such beautiful creatures."

He winked, but not in a creepy way, more like a playful way. You grinned at him before he opened the door and walked out.

Haru walked in not too much later. Nagisa exclaimed he missed the show and he shrugged, clearly not caring.

It was silent for a few minutes. Everyone trying to settle their thoughts. Just when you wanted to speak up again Nagisa grabbed your hand. He looked up at you with big sad eyes.

"(y/n)? You'll stay in the swim club, right?"

His voice was so soft and sad. Just like a little kid's would be. You realized he wasn't just asking if you'd stayed in the club, but if you would stay their friend, or if you'd not move away from them.

You shrugged. "If you guys want me to-"

Nagisa and Rei jumped in before you could even finish. Their voices melting to one. "We do!"

You giggled at their enthusiastic tone. You turned around to look at Makoto and Haru. Makoto smiled and nodded. "I do too."

You smiled back before your gaze turned to Haru, who was looking at the ground. Your smile instantly disappearing. Your hands started to shake with worry, waiting impatiently for any kind of emotion in his face.

He looked up, his eyes locking with yours. Normally the first thing you'd notice about his face was his striking ocean eyes. But now it was his lips, who were curled up in a sideways smile.

"I do."

Your body warmed up with joy. Those two words had never had a bigger meaning. You couldn't help yourself as you grabbed the fabric of his sweater and pulled him in a hug, not caring he wasn't the biggest fan of hugs. He didn't hug back as tightly as you, but his hands were resting around your waist which was good enough for you. You buried your face in his neck. You didn't cry, but his neck still got wet from the previous tears you shed. Probably.

You pulled back and smiled at him. He didn't smile back but you could not care less.

"It's almost like a marriage proposal."

Your face flushed red and you turned around to smack Nagisa, who was giggling loudly.

The five of you started bantering. It was like nothing had changed. And you were extremely grateful of that.

***

It had been a couple of days since you got fired out of the hospital. You mainly spend the days at home, because on the street you often got shouted at, and you still weren't used to it.

You had caught up with your mom. Who had been very distressed when you told her everything. She was glad you were alright now but still made you visit her more often in case something else went wrong.

School started today again. Gou forgave you quickly after you promised she could touch your biceps. The rest of your class luckily just ignored you, which wasn't very different than usual. You ate lunch with the guys on the rooftop and after school the six of you made your way to the swim club.

Just when you got out of the changing room you noticed no one was there anymore. So you just walked out of the building. You barely made it two steps before something climbed onto you, making you fall over with a loud shriek.

"(y/n)! Show us your tail!"

"I'm not afraid of mermaids anymore!"

"Can we please swim with you?!"

You looked up and was met with the seafoam and the caramel eyes of the Tachibana twins. They were sitting on top of you and you couldn't stand up. 

"Ran! Ren! Get off (y/n)!" A stressed out Makoto pulled them off you, mumbling multiple apologies before helping you up.

"Sorry! They wanted to see you swim, but then everyone heard about it and it kinda got out of hand..." He said guiltily.

You looked up. You saw your teammates, Nagisa, Rei and Haru, but you also saw a lot of other people. Gou, Rin, Nitori, Momo, Sousuke, Miss Amakate and Couch Sasabe were all there, in swimsuits (except for Miss Amakate).

You facepalmed. "Mako..." You whined before they noticed you. They all came running towards you.

"Can I swim with you first?"

"Can I go second?"

"What color is your tail?"

You giggled nervously and Makoto pushed everyone away, telling them to give you some space.

You suddenly felt very proud of your tail. Maybe all these compliments made you realized how lucky you actually were. You were part of these two totally different but amazing worlds, and you had to maneuver your way around it. But maybe that was not something bad.

You smiled to yourself and an idea popped in your head. You suddenly bolted forward, pushing through the crowd, not caring about their protests. 

You bounced off the edge and somersaulted in the water, midway in the air changing to your tail. You dove in beautifully and swam a couple of circles before resurfacing. Everyone was looking at you with their mouths open. You giggled and motioned for them to follow you. "Get in! The water is amazing!"

They didn't hesitate and all jumped in, creating a huge wave. They splashed their way to you and you proudly presented your tail. You noticed Haru was still standing on the edge so you made your way over to him. Without waiting for him to say something you grabbed his hands and pulled him underwater.

You giggled at his angry face and splashed some water his way.

You stayed at the pool a lot longer than usual, just having fun with everyone. You swam with everyone multiple times. Taught Ran how to swim like a mermaid. Had breath-holding competitions with Ren, Rin, Nagisa, Momo and couch Sasabe (You let Ren win) and had a race with Rin, who was confident he was gonna win from you, which he didn't.

When the sun started setting and the water got cold everyone got out. Slowly everyone started leaving and saying their goodbye's. Eventually, it was only you, Nagisa, Rei, Haru, Makoto and, Ren and Ran. Ran had climbed on top of you and was now sitting on your shoulders, playing with your hair. Ren was sitting on Haru's lap peacefully.

You felt happy. Really happy. You had the best group of friends anyone could ever wish for, and you wouldn't exchange it for the world. 

You were you. Yeah, you were different, but that was okay. It made you special. 

You chuckled to yourself. I sound like my dad, you thought.

Ran looked down. "Why are you laughing?"

You shrugged, which was hard with a toddler on your shoulders. "I'm just really happy."

"Why?"

You looked up at her before looking at the guys, who were all smiling knowingly at you. You smiled at them and grabbed her hands, taking her off your shoulders and on your lap.

"Say, Ran. Don't we still have our wedding to plan?"

 

THE END

**Author's Note:**

> First story on Archive of our Own! Sorry if I mess things up XD


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